Going Electric: California Car Mandate Would Hit Mechanics Hard – May 2022
James Sallee, Faculty Affiliate, discusses the effects of the California car mandate in Cal Matters.
“Californians will still own a lot of gas-powered cars past 2035, softening the blow for car mechanics and industries dependent on fossil fuels, said James Sallee, an economist and research associate at the Energy Institute at University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Sallee said the changes wouldn’t occur fast enough to trigger a sharp economic slowdown within the auto repair industry. ‘It’s when there’s quick and rapid changes that we think the most harm is done to workers because they can’t relocate freely and quickly,’ Sallee said. ‘So it’s important people have in perspective that it is a slow-moving process, not a dramatic and super-fast shift away from demand for gasoline stations or oil changes. It’s going to be something that takes place over a longer time period.’ “
Photo: calmatters.org